Rwanda was affectionately referred to as: “A tropical Switzerland in the heart of Africa”, apparently because of its natural scenic beauty formed by dense forests and a rugged mountainous terrain.
Rwanda is a small country inhabited mostly by the Hutu and the Tutsi ethnic groups who co-existed peacefully for centuries, sharing language, culture and conjugal bonds until the arrival of European colonialists. The Belgians who ruled the country tactically favoured the Tutsis and imposed them on the Hutus who became more or less of vassals.
The peace was gone and in its stead was acrimony that occasionally exploded into violent clashes. Even then, Rwanda continued to maintain an uneasy calm until the events of April 6, 1994. On that day, the aircraft carrying President Juvenal Habyarimana, a Hutu, was brought down under circumstances that could still not be explained, many years after that incident. Contrary to the claim by the Hutus that the Tutsis were behind the crash, the Tutsis blamed it on Hutu extremists who masterminded the crash to pave way for their long-held agenda of settling scores with the Tutsis.
Immediately, by radio and other means, news went round that the Tutsis had killed the President, who is a Hutu. The Hutus were incited to rise up, for the final hour had come when they had to deal a final solution to the Tutsi menace that had haunted the Hutus for years.
Within moments, Rwanda, one of the most beautiful places on Earth, became a killing field. Everything, from machetes to axes, were freely used in hacking human beings like firewood. When something close to sanity finally returned after 90 days of madness, over one million Tutsis and moderate Hutus had been killed.
Rwanda had had its ethnic problems for years but it took that radio announcement deliberately made for effect, to trigger that animalistic instinct in men and to subsequently unleash that avalanche of bloodbath in that country.
Events following the April 6, 1994 plane crash of President Habyarimana, might have sobered Rwandans and brought them to the realisation that violence in all its forms cannot solve but compound their problems. Rwanda is gradually picking the pieces, but a million lives lost in a matter of three months cannot be forgotten so easily and some families and individuals including innocent children who lost their parents may never recover from the carnage.
Thanks to the lenses of the cameras of international television channels, we in Ghana cannot pretend not to have seen bloated bodies of the Rwandan genocide that were dumped in mass graves. We could not have missed the exodus of women and children with what little belongings they could carry, fleeing the mayhem to neighbouring countries.
The problem of Liberia is well known to us here, because we were and still are part of it. The invasion of Liberia by rebels led by Charles Taylor from Cote d’Ivoire in 1989, triggered a series of events that culminated in one of the bloodiest civil wars in Africa.
By the time that war ended in 1996, over 200,000 Liberians were dead and over a million others displaced as refugees in neighbouring countries including our own Ghana, where a new township — Budumburam — sprang up to accommodate the refugees.
Our own soldiers, for years, were deployed as part of the ECOWAS Monitoring Group (ECOMOG) to keep the peace in Liberia, and that did not go without enormous human, financial and material sacrifices. Some of the Liberians are still with us, and there is no evidence that they will end their stay in the immediate future. Maybe they have acclimatised and want to be part of us. But the truth is, it is war that brought them here and not a voluntary decision.
Cote d’Ivoire was like an oasis in a desert until they tasted their first coup on December 24, 1999. That was when the government of Konan Bedie was overthrown by General Robert Guei.
The peace and political stability that Cote d’Ivoire enjoyed during the reign of Houphouet Boigny in a region notorious for military coups got shattered and the island in the vast ocean became another case of political and ethnic confrontation in the sub-region.
In 2000, an attempt by General Guei to declare himself elected president after a general election was met with fierce resistance from Mr Laurent Gbagbo’s supporters, who stormed the presidential palace. In the ensuing violent confrontation, hundreds of Ivoriens lost their lives. The seeds of bitter rivalry had been sown and the oasis was gone.
Before the 2000 general election, the Ivoriens ratified a controversial constitution that excluded those not considered to be full-blooded Ivoriens from running as president. This clause seriously affected many prominent politicians from the north especially opposition leader Allassane Ouattara.
The tension created by this constitutional barrier was further exacerbated on September 19, 2002 when General Guei attempted a coup to stage a comeback. The confrontation that followed split the country into two with the predominantly Muslim north being held by the Patriotic Movement of Cote d’Ivoire (MPCI), while the south remained in government hands.
Even though the fight has ceased, Cote d’Ivoire has not been the same again and its unitary state is still in the balance. That is what political intolerance and fanning of ethnic sentiments can do to an otherwise peaceful country.
In 2007, Nigerians escaped political turmoil after what was seen by many as a flawed election because they have history to guide them.
I have heard people often say that Ghana is blessed and, therefore, cannot experience what other countries have gone through. It is good to sound so optimistic, but the truth is that Ghana is not different from other countries. It is true that Ghana has taken over as the oasis in a troubled region, at least so far as political stability is concerned. So do we have to take it for granted?
Events in Kenya, after December 27, 2007, are clear indications that every country can go into flames if the conditions allow it. The only thing that can make Ghana different is for its people to remove or avoid those things that trigger violent confrontations in other countries. These include political intolerance, lawlessness, lack of transparency, political vindictiveness, insults, ethnocentrism and tribalism.
The partial registration exercise that started on July 31, 2008, has recorded a few nasty incidents at some registration centres. There were even reports of shooting incidents at some places.
Apart from that, the two major political parties — the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) — have traded accusations and counter-accusations, each blaming the other for the violence and other malpractices that have reared their ugly heads so far in the registration exercise.
Going to the polls to elect a President and legislators should not be likened to going to the battlefield. That is why there is no need to beat the war drums. Political parties and candidates should be able to market their ideas in a civil and peaceful manner without inciting emotions.
As stated earlier, no society is immune to violence so long as certain obstacles to peace are not removed. That is why the Electoral Commission (EC) must be encouraged and supported to conduct its legitimate business in a peaceful and congenial atmosphere and it must be seen to be in full control of affairs. The leadership of the various political parties, especially NPP and NDC, have a crucial role to play in this regard.
The ground rules have been spelt out in clear and unambiguous terms. It is nobody’s business to prevent anyone from registering. Where there are doubts, the appropriate forms must be filled to allow the EC to do its mandated work in the interest of all. The security agencies, especially the police are there to intervene where there are clear cases of breach of the law. It will be wrong for political parties to take over the work of the EC and the police.
Inflammatory statements must be avoided. The media, especially the radio stations, must desist from using their mediums as platforms for charlatans, demagogues and rabble-rousers to inflame passion that could incite the people to violence.
I do not see why people should be desperate for political power if their aim is to make this country a better place. Coming events, they say, cast their own shadows. If we want a peaceful and fair election, then the lessons from the registration exercise should put us on the alert.
The message of tolerance, fairness and transparency featured prominently in all the deliveries at last week’s two-day Daily Graphic Governance Dialogue held in Accra and it is the responsibility of all, especially those who want to rule this country, to ensure that the message permeates their rank and file.
There is a thin line separating peace from violence. Just as it took a plane crash to bring about a genocide in Rwanda, it can take an argument at a registration centre or polling station to trigger more serious events. As for the claim that we are different, it is an illusion and the earlier we worked hard to preserve our peace, the better.
fokofi@yahoo.co.uk
kofiakordor.blogspot.com
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